Statins and the colorectum: hope for chemoprevention?

This perspective on Bertagnolli et al. (beginning on p. 588 in this issue of the journal) and Lipkin et al. (beginning on p. 597) considers the likelihood that statins have chemopreventive efficacy in the large bowel. An observational analysis within a clinical trial of celecoxib found no benefit of statin use on the risk of colorectal adenomas (and some suggestions of an adverse effect). On the other hand, variation in the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase gene modified the association of statins with risk of colorectal cancer. The perspective discusses the implications of these data and how they fit into the context of previous investigations.